Ponta Delgada, Portugal, July 9, 2025 (Lusa) - The Vice-President of the Azores Government on Wednesday welcomed Google’s decision to anchor the Sol submarine cable on the island of São Miguel, making the Azores archipelago “strategic in terms of connectivity” between the United States and Europe.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Artur Lima praised the US multinational’s decision, which he said was indicative of the Azores’ geostrategic importance in terms of digitalisation.
“I would like to publicly thank Google Portugal, Google Iberia and Google multinational for always welcoming the Azores’ requests to make this investment in the autonomous region and make the Azores strategic in terms of connectivity between the United States and Europe,” he said.
Google announced today the Sol submarine cable, which will connect the US, Bermuda, the Azores, and Spain, complementing and interconnecting with the Nuvem submarine cable, which Google announced in 2023.
The number two in the Azores government, who is responsible for attracting foreign investment and communications and digital transition, emphasised that the Azores government “worked hard” in talks with the technology company over several months of “discussions”.
“We have held frequent meetings with the CEO [executive director] of Google in Portugal. We also met with the CEO of Google in Madrid. We announce meetings when they are ready for public discussion, so we handle others discreetly,” he stressed.
The new submarine cable highlights the importance of the Azores’ location for new transatlantic communications systems, according to Artur Lima.
“We have been talking about the geostrategic position of the Azores. If the archipelago was known for its geography, it is now known for its digitalisation and transnational communications networks. This is yet another submarine cable that will connect to the island of São Miguel. This is extraordinary,” reinforced the vice-president of the Regional Government.
The US will manufacture the Sol cable, and, when operational, “it will increase the capacity and reliability of our growing network of 42 Google Cloud regions around the world, helping to meet growing customer demand for Google Cloud and AI services in the US, Europe and elsewhere.”
Sol “completes a unique investment in transatlantic resilience alongside the Nuvem submarine cable, with the two systems interconnecting on land in the Azores, Bermuda, the United States and the Iberian Peninsula,” Google said.
“Today, we are announcing Sol, a new transatlantic submarine cable system connecting the US, Bermuda, the Azores and Spain,” the tech company said on its blog, adding that “we chose the name in reference to the cable system’s mooring points in warmer climates.”
According to the company, Palm Coast in Florida will receive the Sol cable in the US.
“We will partner with DC BLOX to moor the cable and establish a new connectivity hub in Florida, commonly known as the Sunshine State,” it adds, “and we will also develop a terrestrial route connecting Palm Coast to our Cloud region in South Carolina.”
RPYP/ADB // ADB.
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